


Ms. Knope Returns From Washington

by zarrati



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-28
Updated: 2015-11-28
Packaged: 2018-05-01 14:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5209100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarrati/pseuds/zarrati
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As he walks out of the firm, he feels his phone vibrate with a text message from April.<br/>She knows.<br/>That’s all it says, but a feeling of dread courses through him.<br/>Leslie knows that he was helping April. His stubborn and hot tempered wife knows that he was willfully going behind her back and helping her beloved protege find a job outside of government.<br/>He’s royally screwed.</p><p>Post- “Ms. Ludgate-Dwyer Goes to Washington”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ms. Knope Returns From Washington

Ben once again apologizes profusely to Barney, who is oddly enough the person that Ben has probably hurt the most in his life, albeit unintentionally. He does his best to smooth things over with a few more well placed accounting puns, but the disappointment is still evident in the man’s eyes.

As he walks out of the firm, he feels his phone vibrate with a text message from April.

She knows

That’s all it says, but a feeling of dread courses through him.

Leslie knows that he was helping April. His stubborn and hot tempered wife knows that he was willfully going behind her back and helping her beloved protege find a job outside of government.

He’s royally screwed.

Driving back to the house, Ben mentally curses himself for not realizing sooner that something was off. Yes, she called the night before, but that was to say goodnight to the kids. He had been too stressed with April’s interview to really think about it, but he should have noticed how short she was with him when said that she was too busy to talk.

He’s surprised that she didn’t call him the second she found out, didn’t explode with all of the anger and betrayal that he knows she must be feeling. He’s shocked that she even managed to talk to him on the phone without blowing up.

He can only imagine the hell that’s going to come the second he walks into the house and sees Leslie for the first time since she’s been back.

Maybe he can use one of the kids as a human shield and distract her with their adorableness.

He pulls into the driveway and sees her car parked in its usual spot. Taking a deep breath, Ben readies himself and makes his way through the front door.

It’s eerily silent, an impossible feat in household of three toddlers, and he soon sees Leslie slowly making her way down the stairs. Her expression is unreadable, completely neutral, and it scares him even more than if she was visibly furious.

“Uh, hi, honey. Welcome home,” he says with a cough. “H-how was D.C.?”

She walks past him towards the living room and he dutifully follows.

“It was…eventful,” she says coolly over her shoulder.

“Oh, okay.” He looks around the house noticeably devoid of tiny humans. “Where are the kids?”

Leslie sits down on the sofa and crosses her legs. “At my mom’s. I came home and told Roz she could leave for the day, played with the kids a little, then had my mom come get them.”

“Oh,” he nods slowly, afraid to join her on the couch. “Any reason why?”

She gives him a cold, almost menacing smile. “I think you know why. Sit down,” she says so sweetly that it actually unnerves him. “We have a lot we need to talk about.”

He swallows and slowly sits as far away from her as possible.

She folds her hands in her lap and continues to look at him with the same expression.

“So, how were things here?” she asks.

“Uhm, y-you know. Busy between the kids and work and…stuff.”

“Ah, yes, stuff.”

Ben swallows and an uncomfortable silence hangs in the air. He’s being choked by it, his nerves on end and his fingers twitching uncontrollably.

“Oh, God,” he finally exclaims, “I know you know. Just do something already. I don’t know, yell at me or whatever, but this silence is killing me.”

Whatever fine tether holding her emotions in check finally snaps and her mask of neutrality quickly morphs into the angry frown Ben is accustomed to.

“You’re damn right I know! And for your information, I was trying to follow the advice of my close, personal friend and political mentor Madeleine Albright and not freak out and be more aware of your feelings, but dammit, it’s hard.”

“Wait, what does Madeleine Albright have to do with this?”

“Everything, but don’t try to change the subject.” She stands up and starts pacing. “I mean, how could you do this to me? You went behind my back, kept secrets from me, and knowingly lied to me. I felt so betrayed when April told me. And that was on top of the betrayal I already felt when she told me she didn’t want to work in government anymore. I mean, so much betrayal.”

“Babe, I know you’re upset, but hear me out,” he pleads. “I know I didn’t tell you and I’m sorry, but April swore me to secrecy. And I get that you feel betrayed, but please, think about April and what she wants. She’s not happy where she is and I think the best thing that we can do is support her.”

Ben sighs and waits for Leslie’s argument back, but it doesn’t come.

“You’re right,” she answers and it takes a moment for it to register.

“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” he asks incredulously. 

She sits down next to him on the couch and shrugs. “I said that you’re right. Don’t get me wrong, I was furious when she first told me. You know, back to that whole betrayal thing, but Madeleine Albright spoke to me and made me realize that what’s most important is that April is happy in her job, not that I’m happy with April in her job. All I can ever really do his help guide her, but I can’t force her into anything.”

“Wait, so like Madeleine Albright came to you in a dream or something?”

“What? No. We went out for waffles.”

“Oh, right. I keep forgetting that you actually know these people now.”

“But anyway,” she says trying to get Ben back on track. “It hurt that you all went behind my back, but at the same time I understand why you did. I know I have a tendency to freak out over any form of change and that makes it hard for people to come to me with things like this, but I am trying to be more flexible and understanding.” She reaches out and grasps Ben’s hand. “And if she didn’t feel comfortable coming to me for help, I’m happy that she went to you and you did everything that you could to try and help her.”

Ben breathes a sigh and squeezes his wife’s hand. “Thank you. It’s such a relief to hear you say that. I honestly didn’t want to go behind your back, but it was really the only way. But the good news is that now that you know, we can work together and find April the perfect job.”

She waves her hand nonchalantly. “Oh, I already took care of that.”

“What?” he gapes at her, slack jawed. “ I’ve been trying to find something for her for weeks.”

“Which is why you really should have told me sooner.”

“I-I don’t…but how,” he stammers, “What did you do?”

“I made an appointment for her at the American Service Foundation.”

“Why didn’t I think of that? That’s genius,” he murmurs to himself. “All I did was have her do that stupid online questionnaire.”

“Did she get astronaut?”

“No, thank God. I think that would have crushed me.”

“I know, but that’s besides the point. She went, and she found out what she wants to do now.”

“That’s amazing. What is it?”

“She actually wants to work for the foundation. Help people figure out what they want to do and then never see them again. It’s actually a perfect fit for her.”

He looks at her with a worried frown. “And you’re okay with that? Won’t that mean that they’ll have to move to D.C.? I mean, assuming I win the election, I can check in on them when I’m out there, but-”

“There actually something else that happened in Washington that I need to talk to you about.”

His eyebrows shoot up to his hairline.

“So,” she continues, “I got offered the job of Deputy Director of Operations at Interior, and I want to take it.”

Ben smiles widely and pulls Leslie into a hug after placing a firm kiss on her lips. “Honey, that’s amazing. Congratulations! I don’t even know what to say. This is such an wonderful opportunity for you.”

“Thank you,” she beams. “And it’s great because you’re going to win the election, and April and Andy are gonna move to D.C. with us, and we’ll split our time between here and Washington. Everything is going to be perfect.”

He smiles at her and gently rubs his thumb over her knuckles. “Wow, it’s all happening so fast. I guess we’d better start looking at places in D.C. for all of us instead of just me like we originally thought.” 

“Yeah, definitely. I already have a few binders upstairs filled with homes for sale or rent in the area and information about the neighborhoods, crime rates, and surrounding school systems.”

Of course she does. Because no matter where his is, she’s always three steps ahead. And he honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“So, you forgive me?” he asks with a shy smile.

She gently nudges his shoulder with her own. “Of course I do. How about you promise to not keep secrets like this from me anymore, and I’ll promise to be more open-minded and approachable.”

He feigns a skeptical look in her direction.

“I’m serious,” she laughs. “I’m really trying to change, but it’s a work in progress.”

Ben wraps his arm around Leslie’s shoulder and pulls her into his side. He feels her sigh contentedly against his chest as he presses a kiss to her hair.

“You know, you had me really worried when I got here.”

She looks up at him with a smirk. “Did the calm, silent treatment properly freak you out?”

“Scared the shit out of me.”

“Then it was a success.”

“You’re terrible.”

She shakes her head. “The only terrible thing is the fact that we are cuddling on the couch when we should be upstairs having reunion/makeup/kids-are-gone sex.”

“Oh my God, you’re right.” He jumps up from the couch and pulls Leslie with him up the stairs, her giggle like music to his ears.

Everything is going to be alright, and he doesn’t know why he thought it would be any different.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on Tumblr @ benwyattforcongress


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